The Chris Moeller Archives

Even the worst of the worst

There's not going to be much support for this court ruling, but I'm willing to provide a little in this space. The Fourth District Court of Appeals has thrown out a $5 million verdict against Rev. Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS., whose members picketed at the funeral of a Marine killed in Iraq. The father of the dead soldier also says he has been ordered to pay the anti-gay protesters' cost of appeal upon the reversal.

The views on homosexuality held by Phelps and the members of his church are abhorrent (for the uninitiated, the church maintains that God hates homosexuality, and that the death of U.S. soldiers in conflict, as well as terrorist attacks and most natural disasters, are God's way of punishing the country for its tolerance), yet it's their right to speak out as publicly as they see fit that allows us to see the organization and its message for all of its absurdity. Additionally, it's quite common for courts to rule that one party must pick up the costs associated with the legal action, and the First Amendment wouldn't last for long if people who hold unpopular views were constantly forced to defend their Constitutional freedoms against actions of litigation and the financial costs associated with such.

This is a court ruling that protects any of us who hold political and cultural opinions at odds with the American mainstream. The First Amendment exists specifically to protect the unpopular speech, popular expressions don't need the help.

---

I don't know what to say.

---

Ron Paul's son, Rand, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, is challenging the leadership of his party with tough questions about the relationship between American security and its foreign policy.

---

I'm confused, Sarah Palin didn't already have a reality show?

posted by CM @ 10:31 AM